Different Circumstances
by Losty and Stormy
Summary: A new warrior was framed and exiled for killing the deputy of her Clan. She traveled far away to create her own Clan thanks to the idea of a rogue. When she returned, she found just what she was expecting. Or did she...?
1. Chapter 1

_The stars twinkled in the cloudy night sky as the moon rose, and a new warrior by the name of Snowyfern was sitting vigil. Excitement coursed through her and it was all she could do not to bounce around in excitement. She had been held back in her first assessment since she didn't catch enough prey, so her warrior ceremony had been long-awaited. _

_Watching her friends go on without her had been torture. She was hoping now that she was a warrior they would welcome her back into their group. _

_Suddenly, she heard faint voices coming from the forest. Snowyfern pricked her ears. The voices were getting louder and closer. It became obvious that the voices were arguing._

_Becoming concerned, Snowyfern padded in the direction of the voices. As she got closer, she recognized those of her deputy, Swiftsky, and her father, Whiteblaze._

_She nosed through the undergrowth in time to see her father clout the deputy on the head, knocking her to the ground. "You see, _this_ is why I deserved to be deputy," he snapped. "You can't even see a surprise attack coming."_

_Swiftsky stared at Whiteblaze, getting back on her paws. "I didn't realize I needed to defend myself from a clanmate," she said evenly._

"_Then you will now," sneered Whiteblaze mockingly. He unsheathed his claws and lunged forward._

_The deputy fell, her eyes glazing over. Snowyfern let out a gasp of horror._

_Whiteblaze's head shot up. "Who's there?" he snarled._

_Snowyfern shuffled backwards, not daring to breathe as she escaped that terrible scene._

_A few moments later, she was sitting as still as a statue in front of the camp with no emotion on her face. Whiteblaze stalked past her, but he paused for a moment and whispered in her ear._

"_I know you saw."_

* * *

"Yes, it is very tragic that our deputy was killed," rang out Breezestar's dull voice. "I say these words before StarClan, so that the spirit of Swiftsky may hear and approve of my choice. The new deputy of ThunderClan is Whiteblaze."

"Swiftsky wouldn't approve," hissed Snowyfern under her breath. "Because Whiteblaze is the one that killed her."

Foxtail glanced to the left. "Did you say something, Snowyfern?" he asked.

"Uh, no," muttered Snowyfern, looking down.

Whiteblaze stood up. "It is an honor to be made deputy," he said grandly. "Swiftsky's death is very tragic. I would also like to reveal… I know who killed her."

Gasps came from the Clan and Snowyfern looked at him skeptically. He wasn't going to tell the Clan he'd killed her himself- so who was he going to place the blame on?

"I am very disappointed and grieved to say this, but- my own daughter, Snowyfern, killed Swiftsky."

Snwoyfern's mouth fell open and she cursed herself inwardly. _I should have known he was going to do that._

"Snowyfern, is this true?" Breezestar asked, for once shaken out of his stupidness by the accusation.

"Of course not," snapped Snowyfern, her fur ruffled. "How would I even be able to? I am a new warrior and Swiftsky was our deputy."

"Well, Breezestar?" scoffed Whiteblaze. "Are you going to believe one of your most trusted warriors or the crowfood-eater that killed Swiftsky?"

Breezestar stared down at Snowyfern. "We will have a vote," he decided. "Anyone who wants her in the Clan will go to that side of the camp." He flicked his tail in one direction. "And whoever doesn't will go to that side." He flicked his tail in the opposite direction.

Snowyfern bristled furiously. _How dare that fox-hearted load of badger droppings…!_

Snowyfern turned to her old friends- Hollydawn, the medicine cat apprentice, and Nettlefrost, Flamestorm, and Blackbreeze.

Hollydawn and Nettlefrost immediately took off to the side that wanted Snowyfern to stay. After a moment of hesitation and a glance at Flamestorm, Blackbreeze followed.

Whiteblaze and a few other warriors who were close to him and Swiftsky went to the opposite side. The queens, apprentices, warriors, and elders split up between both sides until the numbers were equal and the only one who hadn't voted was Flamestorm.

Flamestorm stared at his paws. "I'm sorry, Snowyfern." He padded over to join Whiteblaze and the others without making eye contact.

Snowyfern felt shock bolt through her. She and her other three friends stared at each other.

"The decision has been made," said Breezestar unfeelingly. "If anyone finds Snowyfern on our territory after sundown, they have permission to kill her."

Snowyfern regarded the opposite side of camp coldly. "You will realize your mistake soon," she said simply. "I will be back to say I told you so when you have a tyrant for a leader. Hollydawn, Nettlefrost, Blackbreeze, may StarClan light your path."

Snowyfern took her time stalking out of the camp entrance and nobody moved a muscle. When she was gone, her three friends took off to the warriors den and nobody bothered them for a long time.

* * *

**Prologue complete! Awesomeness :3**

**I've made a lot of changes, hopefully everyone likes them. Here are the descriptions of a couple cats:**

**Snowyfern: a lithe white she-cat with one blue eye and one green eye.**

**Whiteblaze: a large white tom with blue eyes**

**Blackbreeze: a skinny black tom with a white spot between his eyes and a white chest and paws, yellow eyes**

**Nettlefrost: a wiry-furred light brown and white she-cat with green eyes**

**Hollydawn: a fluffy black she-cat with blue eyes**

**Flamestorm: a light ginger tabby tom with darker ginger patches and amber eyes**


	2. Chapter 2

As she stomped furiously through the forest, Snowyfern realized something. She had no clue what she was doing or where she was going.

She wandered down to the lake and stared at her reflection for a little while. "Maybe the barn cats from the Horseplace will let me rest there for the night_,_" she thought aloud. "And if they don't… well, I have to start somewhere."

So, with this plan in mind, Snowyfern set off for the barn.

* * *

Snowyfern crept under the fence and padded toward the barn, keeping a wary eye on the horses in the corner of the field. Scenting a cat, she looked around.

"Hello," a familiar-looking gray tabby tom greeted Snowyfern warily. "What can I do for you?"

"Ah, I was wondering if I could stay here tonight, I'm just passing through," Snowyfern said politely, looking closely at the tom, trying to remember where she'd seen him before.

The tom looked at her with a scrutinizing eye, as if seeing whether he could beat her in a fight or not. "Yeah, sure. As long as you leave by tomorrow at sunhigh. I'm Storm, by the way."

"Snowyfern."

Out of the corner of her eye, Snowyfern thought she saw the tom smirk. When she glanced at him, however, his face looked impassive.

Storm led Snowyfern up a ladder onto the barn's roof. He jumped down onto a pile of prickly stuff and Snowyfern followed. Storm flicked his tale at the pile of prickly stuff. "You can sleep on the hay, unless you'd prefer the floor. When you're done getting settled you can look around or hunt. There are plenty of mice in the barn," he said, padding away.

Snowyfern scented the air, ready to hunt. She hadn't eaten since before her vigil and there were pangs of hunger in her belly.

She pinpointed a mouse under some of the prickly hay by the wall. Dropping into a crouch, Snowyfern crept forward.

A few seconds later, Snowyfern was sitting on a pile of the hay and enjoying her long-awaited meal. She stretched out, feeling her pelt being prickled by the hay.

Thinking to herself that this would be a very uncomfortable nap, Snowyfern's eyelids drooped and she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

_Snowyfern found herself floating in nothingness. She couldn't see anything, feel anything, or hear anything._

"_What's going on!?"_

_Snowyfern couldn't hear her own exclamation, but somehow she knew she'd cried out. A great, orange flame reared up in front of her._

"_**His heart was burned by his destiny," **__a terrible, echoing voice boomed. "__**She must douse the flame, though Death will stand in her way. Let the foreign ones and the misguided ones accompany her."**_

_Snowyfern found herself on the ground of a forest, shadows floating around her. Letting out a cry of fear, Snowyfern ran. The shadows followed, clawed paws extending from their ebony interior. Sharp claws pierced her tail and she was falling…_

* * *

Snowyfern woke up on the floor of the barn, her heart racing. She sat up and there was a panicked '_meew'_! as a frosty-furred kitten tumbled away from her. The kitten's claws unsnagged from her tail as it tumbled away and sat up. "Hi!" it squeaked. "Who're you? I'ma Frost. I haven't seen ya b'fore. 're you moving in with me and mumma Icey and dada Stormy?"

Snowyfern was still shaken up by her dream, so it took her a moment to register that there was a kitten sitting in front of her, tilting her head and waiting for answers. She was saved from having to answer by another frosty gray cat bounding out from behind the piles of hay.

"Frost! I told you not to wander off!" the she-cat scolded. "Go back to the nest with Flight and Sleet."

Frost hung her head and trudged back into the unnoticeable gap between the wall and the prickly hay.

"I'm very sorry," apologized the frosty gray cat. "I'm Ice. I'm guessing you're Snowyfern; the one Storm told me was resting here. Might I ask where you're from?"

"Ah, I used to be in a Clan. One of the large groups of cats that are settled around the lake? My father framed me for something and had me kicked out. I really miss my Clan and my friends, already. I doubt I'll be cut out for loner life, but I can't think of any other choices," said Snowyfern, glad to be telling her story to another cat.

"Oh, that's terrible," Ice said sadly. "Maybe you can stay here?"

"Eh, Storm didn't seem to want me around for long, and I don't want to overstay my welcome. I wish that I hadn't been so stupid and had realized that my father was going to do what he did, then I'd still be in my Clan," sighed Snowyfern.

Ice tilted her head and Snowyfern saw her resemblance to her kit. "Well, isn't there some other possibility?"

Snowyfern frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Why don't you _make_ a Clan?"

* * *

**Woo! Dramatic riddle-y prophecy time! It's so obvious, just like last time! XD**

**Don't expect every-day updates all the time, I just didn't have much homework and, surprisingly, writer's block didn't trap me this time. So enjoy it! XD**

**Here are more descriptions:**

**Storm – a mottled gray tabby tom with yellow eyes**

**Ice – a frosty gray she-cat with amber eyes**

**Frost – a frosty gray she-kit with green eyes**

**Flight – a creamy white she-kit with yellow eyes**

**Sleet – a gray and white tom-kit with green eyes**

**I'll update whenever I can!**

**-LS**


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